lb 

An  American  to  Americans 

John  L.  Stoddard 

Noted  A  nthor-  Traveler 
TELLS 

THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  GERMANY 

AND  THE  WAR  IN  EUROPE 


From  John  L.  Stoddard,  well  known  author-traveler,  friends  in 
California  have  received  the  following  letter,  dealing  with  war,  war 
times  and  the  war-stricken: 

Meeran  (Tyrol),  Sept.  14,  1914. 

Dear  Friends  Across  the  Sea:    I  fear  you  have  been  misinformed 
about  the  present  war.    News  must  have  reached  you  almost  entirely 
from  French  and  English  sources.    How  incorrect  that  news  can  be 
J  know  from  personal  experience.    I  spent  the  first  month  of  the  war 
in  Italy.    From  the  Italian  papers,  which  received  their  news  from 
France  and  England,  I  formed  there  an  erroneous  opinion  both  of  the 
origin  of  the  war  and  the  events  of  the  campaign.    Every  effort  has 
been  made  by  France  and  England  to  bribe  the  Italian  government, 
by  virtual  promises  of  Trieste  and  the  Trientiner  region,  to  declare 
war  against  its  former  allies.    A  similar  attempt  is  being  made,  no 
doubt,  to  prejudice  public  opinion  in  the  United  States.    It  is  difficult 
for  the  truth  to  reach  you.    The  German  cable  has  been  cut,  and  let- 
ters going  out  from  here,  as  well  as  those  addressed  to  Americans  in 
Germany  and  Austria,  are  opened,  held  back  or  destroyed. 

We  are  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  save  as  we  manage  to 
communicate  insecurely  through  a  neutral  country.  While  in  Italy  I 
read  of  revolting  German  cruelties,  of  revolutions  in  Berlin,  of  the 
shooting  of  the  socialist,  Liebknecht,  and  even  of  the  unwillingness  of 
southern  Germans  to  fight  with  their  northern  brothers— all  abso- 
lutely untrue.  Every  achievement  of  the  Germans  and  Austrians  was 
ignored  or  minimized.  Thus  it  was  for  weeks  maintained  that,  al- 
though the  German  army  had  indeed  entered  the  city  of  Liege',  all 
its  surrounding  forts  were  still  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy!  Until  I 
crossed  the  Tyrolese  frontier  from  Switzerland  I  had  no  idea  of  the 
amazing  successes  of  the  Teutonic  forces,  or  of  the  wonderful  spirit  of 
universal  brotherhood,  love  and  devotion  to  the  fatherland  which 
prevailed  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Vistula  and  from  the  Danube  to  the 
Elbe. 

England  is  trying  to  give  you  the  impression  that  this  war  was 
instigated  by  the  Emperor  William  and  a  military  caste  in  Germany. 
This  is  not  true.  It  is  a  people's  war.  The  Germans  stand  behind  their 
kaiser  to  a  man.  They  are  fighting  for  their  very  existence,  threat- 
ened and  surrounded  by  a  world  of  foes.  If  people  were  not' blinded 
by  envy,  dazed  by  fear  and  hypnotized  by  the  expression,  "German 
War  Lord,"  they  would  feel  both  sympathv  and  admiration  for  this 
magnificently  disciplined  and  cultured  nation,  facing  north,  south, 
east  and  west,  to  conquer  and  repel  its  foes  on  land  and  sea !  Nor  are 
its  princes  sitting  back,  like  the  royal  figureheads  of  England  and  Rus- 
sia, letting  their  subjects  do  the  fighting. 


PRINCES  SHOW  BRAVERY 

The  kaiser  has  six  sons  and  his  son-in-law  in  the  field.  Four  of  his 
sons  have  been  wounded.  The  heir  apparent  of  Bavaria,  the  kitlg  of 
Wurtemberg  and  many  other  princes  have  shown  not  only  military 
capacity,  but  personal  bravery,  with  their  soldiers,  under  fire.  It  is 
impossible  to  do  justice  in  words  to  the  enthusiasm,  the  unanimous 
devotion  and  the  solemn  earnestness  of  the  people  of  Germany  and 
Austria  at  the  present  moment.  Fathers  go  to  the  front,  if  possible, 
with  their  sons.  If  not,  they  volunteer  for  any  kind  of  service  at  home, 
and  all  their  women  bravely  bid  them  Godspeed.  Practically  every 
family  in  Germany  and  Austria  is  represented  at  one  of  the  frontiers. 

The  great  Bavarian  oxen  draw  the  carts  around  the  streets  of 
Munich,  since  all  the  horses  also  have  gone  out  to  toil  and  die  for  the 
land  that  nourished  them.  I  read  but  yesterday  a  pathetic  list  of 
objects  contributed  to  the  Red  Cross  by  people  in  this  little  place,  too 
poor  to  offer  money.  Among  them  were  rings,  bracelets,  watches, 
pictures,  some  of  them  precious  heirlooms,  but  now  gladly  laid  upon 
the,  altar  of  the  fatherland.  Do  you  suppose  that  such  a  unanimous 
national  sentiment  as  this,  which  thrills  and  solemnizes  the  beholder, 
and  in  which  every  trace  of  party  rivalry  has  disappeared,  can  have 
been  called  into  existence  by  a  "military  caste"  or  war-mad  emperor? 
The  sixty  millions  of  this  great,  educated  and  enlightened  German 
empire  are  neither  dupes  nor  fools.  They  know  what  they  are  doing, 
and  why.  With  them  also,  shoulder  to  shoulder  and  heart  to  heart, 
stand  many  thousands  of  Americans  now  in  Germany  and  Austria, 
who  understand  the  causes  of  this  struggle  and  the  fateful  destinies 
that  hang  upon  this  issue.  You  know  the  names  of  many  of  them. 
They  are  for  the  most  part  American  professors,  teachers,  writers, 
students,  artists  and  serious  men  of  affairs,  who  are  temporarily  re- 
siding in  the  fatherland.  They  are  not  taking  sides  with  Germany  for 
"what  there  is  in  it."  Nor  are  they  social  sycophants.  They  have  not 
been  presented  at  court,  and  do  not  expect  to  be.  They  are  earnest, 
level-headed  Americans,  who  love  and  admire  Germany,  and  realize 
the  enormous  debt  which  they  and  all  the  rest  of  the  world  owe  to  her 
in  architecture,  music,  science,  municipal  management,  commerce, 
steamship  lines  and,  above  all,  in  her  inspiring  literature  and  in  her 
great  universities,  where  thousands  of  our  youth  have  come  for  years 
to  complete  their  education.  Nor  are  they  anxious  now  to  hasten  back 
to  the  United  States,  as  thousands  of  belated  tourists  have  been  obliged 
to.  They  feel  it  both  a  duty  and  a  privilege  to  stay  and  do  their  ut- 
most to  relieve  distress,  to  comfort  the  bereaved  and  to  assist  the  Red 
Cross  work,  thankful  to  show  their  gratitude  for  the  protection,  ben- 
efits and  happiness  they  have  here  received. 

BLAMES  RUSSIA  FOR  WAR 

Now  what  is  it  that  we,  in  common  with  sixty  million  Germans, 
believe  about  this  horrible  war?  First,  that  the  Emperor  William  is 
not,  as  has  been  represented  to  you,  the  cause  and  promoter  of  it.  The 
blame  for  this  lies  primarily  at  the  door  of  Russia.    Two  years  ago  a 


4 

prominent  Russian  official  said  to  me:  "In  1915  you  will  see  great 
things.  Russia  has  recuperated  from  the  Japanese  war,  and  is  burning 
to  recover  her  lost  prestige.  The  Russian  war  party  cannot  be  re- 
strained. You  will  soon  see  the  Teuton's  land  inundated  by  the  Slavic 
flood." 

Why  did  Russia  intervene  in  behalf  of  Servia?  Do  you  suppose 
for  one  moment,  in  view  of  her  infamous  home  record  and  her  treat- 
ment of  the  many  races  crushed  by  her  that  she  did  this  from  any 
motive  of  chivalry  ?  She  is  merely  carrying  out  her  cherished  plan  of 
making  a  Slavic  onslaught  on  the  Teuton.  In  this  she  is  assisted  by 
poor,  visionary  France  and  envious  England.  Yet  if  Russia  should 
succeed,  with  the  help  of  her  allies,  in  crushing  Germany  and  Austria, 
she  would  prove  a  menace  to  the  world  such  as  mankind  has  never 
seen.  It  is  amazing  that  this  fact  is  not  more  universally  apprehended. 
You  know  what  Russia  is.  Only  a  short  time  ago  England  was  holding 
up  her  hands  in  horror  at  her  cruelties  and  perfidy.  Prince  Kropotkine, 
the  Russian  revolutionist,  gave  me  not  long  since  a  book  of  his,  de- 
scribing present  conditions  in  Russia,  and  said  to  me:  "The  facts  I 
have  related  here  are  absolutely  true,  and  are  so  horrible  that,  while 
writing  of  them,  I  have  scarcely  been  able  to  sleep." 

There  exists  in  London  today  a  society  of  eminent  publishers, 
writers  and  philanthropists,  whose  purpose  is  to  reveal  to  their  country- 
men the  infamy  of  Russia's  government.  Nevertheless,  it  is  to  this 
despotic,  semi-barbaric  power  that  England  and  France,  jealous  and 
apprehensive  of  the  progress  and  success  of  Germany,  are  lending  now 
their  aid.  But  what  can  they  expect  if  German  civilization  and  culture 
are  crushed,  if  Germany  and  Austria  are  overrun  by  Cossacks,  and  if 
the  Tsar's  hordes  ravage  Berlin,  Dresden  and  Vienna.  England  would 
dearly  rue  the  substitution  of  Slavic  for  Teutonic  hegemony.  Russia 
desires  to  be  absolutely  master  in  the  Balkans,  and  once  supreme  there, 
would  inevitably  seize  Constantinople.  Who  then  could  possibly  pre- 
vent her  doing  so?  Her  love  for  Serbs  is  a  pretext  of  transparent 
thinness.  What  are  these  Serbs?  A  semi-civilized  people,  who  but  a 
few  years  since  murdered  their  own  king  and  queen  and  threw  their 
corpses  on  a  dunghill ;  a  people  whose  atrocities  in  the  recent  war  with 
Turkey  chilled  the  blood  of  all  who  read  of  them;  a  treacherous  folk, 
whose  ambition  for  "pan-Slavic  expansion"  caused  the  assassination 
last  July  of  the  future  sovereigns  of  Austria-Hungary.  Ask  yourselves 
how  England  or  any  other  country  would  have  acted  if  its  king, 
emperor  or  president  had  been  thus  brutally  done  to  death  by  a  neigh- 
borhood people,  which  for  years,  incited  by  a  foreign  foe,  had  been  a 
constant  source  of  danger  and  annoyance.  How  can  one  overlook  that 
monstrous,  culminating  provocation  when  treating  of  this  question? 

CONSTANT  INTRIGUES 
All  through  the  month  of  July  there  came  no  suitable  apology  or 
explanation  from  the  Servian  government,  in  spite  of  positive  evidence 
of  the  close  connection  of  the  Servian  war  party  with  the  crime  at 
Serajevo.  Austria  and  Servia  should  have  been  allowed  to  settle 
this  matter  by  themselves.    As  one  who  has  resided  in  the  Tyrol  for 


5 


many  years,  I  can  assure  you  that  what  the  dual  monarchy  has  en- 
dured from  constant  intrigues,  treachery  and  insolent  defiance  on  the 
part  of  Servia,  all  of  which  were  instigated  or  approved  by  Russia, 
no  other  European  nation  would  have  borne  so  long  and  patiently ; 
especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Austria-Hungary  has  so  many 
millions  of  Serbs  and  races  affiliated  with  them  in  her  own  territory. 
The  attitude  and  action  of  Servia  in  July  were  really  dictated  by  the 
Russian  government,  which  saw  in  this  its  wished-for  opportunity. 
Germany's  conscience  is  clear. 

Read,  if  you  can  obtain  a  copy  of  it,  Germany's  "White  Book," 
which  a  number  of  our  countrymen  are  taking  back  with  them  to 
publish  and  spread  broadcast  in  the  United  States.  Would  you  have 
had  Germany  desert  her  ally  when  a  huge  Russian  army  was  marching 
on  Galicia? 

The  Emperor  William  is  persistently  blamed  for  declaring  war  on 
Russia.  But  why  ignore  the  fact  that  he  sent  telegram  after  telegram 
to  the  Tsar,  urging  him  not  to  mobilize  and  send  his  troops  toward 
Austria?  Consider  Germany's  position,  with  France  prepared  to 
spring  on  her  from  one  side,  and  with  a  million  and  a  half  Russians 
advancing  on  the  other!  Quick  action  was  essential  for  her  preserva- 
tion. Germany  mobilized  in  order,  first,  to  resist  the  Russian  advance ; 
second,  to  aid  her  ally,  as  in  duty  bound,  and  thirdly,  to  protect  her- 
self from  being  crushed  between  two  mighty  powers  on  the  east  and 
west.  Sixty  million  Germans  in  the  fatherland  and  doubtless  millions 
more  throughout  the  world  believe  that  the  kaiser  acted  wisely  and 
rightly  in  doing  as  he  did,  and  they  will  support  him  and  his  action 
to  the  last  gun  and  the  last  man.  Moreover,  as  I  have  said,  thousands 
of  Americans  now  in  Germany  and  Austria  are  as  fully  convinced  of  this 
as  are  the  Teutons  themselves.  Do  not  regard  us  all  as  blind  and  pre- 
judiced until  you  hear  and  study  the  other  side. 

Above  all,  look  well  at  England's  motives  before  you  give  her  the 
approval  she  is  trying  now  so  hard  to  gain.  For  the  last  dozen  years 
I  have  been  a  constant  reader  of  English  books  and  newspapers,  and 
I  have  been  profoundly  impressed  by  the  ever-recurring  lamentation 
in  them  over  England's  lack  of  enterprise  and  energy,  and  especially 
over  the  degeneracy  visible  in  her  sport-besotted  youth.  A  score  of 
volumes  written  by  Englishmen  and  countless  clippings  now  in  my 
possession  prove  the  truth  of  this  assertion.  A  society  has  recently 
been  formed  in  London  by  eminent  clergymen,  teachers  and  conserva- 
tive parents  for  the  express  purpose  of  counteracting  this  decadent 

We  have  seen  for  years  how  the  aged  commander-in-chief,  Lord 
Roberts  has,  by  spoken  and  written  words,  tried  to  create  a  more 
virile  spirit  among  his  countrymen.  But  in  proportion,  as  England 
has  perceived  and  been  ashamed  of  her  increasing  inefficiency,  she  has 
also  felt  gnawing  at  her  vitals  envy  and  hatred  for  the  nation  which 
was  efficient  and  which  was  pushing  successfully  her  trade  and  com- 
merce to  those  parts  of  the  world  where  England  had  been  so  long 
pre-eminent  that  she  had  come  to  look  upon  her  trade  supremacy 
there  as  something  given  her  by  divine  right. 


6 


ENGLAND'S  SORDID  MOTIVES. 

The  clearest  proof  of  the  sordidness  of  England's  motives  is  the 
order  she  has  given  the  people  not  to  trade  with  any  firm  throughout 
the  world  which  has  a  German  partner !  John  Burns  resigned  from  the 
English  ministry  to  show  his  disapproval  of  the  war;  yet  in  his  speech 
against  it  you  will  find  no  reference  to  lofty  principles,  but  only  argu- 
ments to  prove  that  such  a  war  would  be  disastrous  to  Great  Bri- 
tain's business  interests.  That  "Nation  of  Shopkeepers,"  as  Napoleon 
called  England,  cannot  rise  above  the  money  standard.  A  story  il- 
lustrates this  fact.  An  Englishman  recently  said  to  a  German:  "We 
shall  fight  it  out  to  our  last  penny."  "We,"  replied  the  German, 
"shall  fight  it  out  to  the  last  drop  of  blood."  It  is  significant  to  see, 
now  that  the  mask  has  fallen,  how  English  men  and  women  speak  of 
Germany  and  her  emperor.  An  English  lady  had  written  recently: 
"We  must  make  the  Teuton  lick  the  dust.  We  must  kick  him  out  of 
recognition." 

Moreover,  I  have  just  read  the  following  in  a  letter  written  by  an 
Englishman:  "I  hope,  this  man,  William,  will  be  obliged  to  abdicate, 
or  will  be  taken  prisoner  and  sent  to  some  island  like  Napoleon.  This 
blaspheming,  hypocritical,  lying  kaiser  will  soon  have  reason,  I  hope, 
to  regret  the  day  he  was  born."  This  is  of  course  the  language  of  a 
boor.  But  what  shall  we  say  of  the  Poet  Laureate  of  England,  who 
likens  this  war  of  the  nations  to  a  conflict  between  Christ  and  the 
devil?  This  comparison  would  be  ridiculous,  if  it  were  not  blasphe- 
mous, and  needs  no  comment.  Still  more  incredible  seems  the  recent 
appeal  made  to  the  English  by  the  poet,  Rudyard  Kipling,  in  which 
he  writes:  "Wake!  for  the  Hun  is  at  the  gate!"  Does  it  seem  pos- 
sible that  any  one  outside  of  a  lunatic  asylum  would  compare  the 
perfectly  disciplined  German  army,  in  the  ranks  of  which  stand  thou- 
sands of  graduates  of  the  noble  universities  of  Gottingen,  Heidel- 
berg, Leipzig  and  Berlin,  to  the  most  barbaric  and  destructive  of  the 
races  of  antiquity? 

One  must  smile  in  reading  this  when  one  recalls  the  bitter  indict- 
ment which  the  same  poet  wrote  some  years  ago  to  warn  England 
against  her  present  ally,  Russia,  in  which  he  likens  the  latter  to  "the 
bear  that  walks  like  a  man  !"  It  would  be  interesting  to  watch  the  faces 
of  these  fire  eaters  when  they  read  the  news  of  the  behavior  of  the 
vaunted  English  heroes  at  St.  Quentin  and  Maubeuge.  As  for  the 
present  sc.  fiment  of  Germany  for  English  it  is  well  expressed  in  the 
following  passage  recently  published  in  a  letter:  "I  can  -assure  you 
that  our  indignation  against  England  is  much  greater  than  that  against 
Russia  and  France,  for  England  has  betrayed  her  own  blood  and  bears 
upon  her  brow  the  brand  of  Cain." 

Yet  Lady  Acton  and  others  have  just  testified,  in  a  letter  to  the 
Times,  to  the  kind  treatment  which  they  and  many  of  their  com- 
patriots who  are  detained  in  Germany  have  received.  They  also  re- 
quest that  paper  to  correct  the  false  reports  which  have  been  pub- 
lished in  regard  to  the  ill  treatment  of  English  people  by  Germans. 

It  is  now  known  that  an  understanding  had  long  existed  between 


: 

Belgium  France  and  England  whereby,  in  case  of  war,  French  troops 
should  be  allowed  to  pass  through  Belgian  territory;  but  that  if 
Germany  on  her  part  should  attempt  it,  England  would  intervene 
tor  this  much  evidence  is  at  hand.  History  will  show  that  French 
officers  were  already  in  the  fortress  of  Liege  when  Germany  was 
mobilizing.  Two  French  officers,  taken  prisoners  at  Namur  acknowl- 
edged that  they  had  arrived  there  already  on  the  30th  of  July. 

VIOLATION  OF  TREATY. 

The  English  claim  the  violation  of  Belgian  territory  by  the  Ger- 
mans as  their  excuse  for  declaring  war.  But  could  cither  Sir  Edward 
Grey  or  Mr.  Asqmth  raise  his  hand  and  swear  upon  his  honor  that 
they  would  not  have  made  war  just  the  same,  whether  or  not  Belgian 
-soil  had  been  invaded  ?  It  was  a  pretext  long  before  prepared.  You 
know  that  last  July  the  fate  of  the  English  Government  was  critical 
A  civil  war  was  imminent  in  Ulster.  Shots  had  already  been  fired  in 
Dublin.  The  Cabinet  knew  that  any  day  the  ground  might  sink  be- 
neath their  feet.  Hence,  eager  to  avert  internal  trouble,  they  grasped 
with  joy  the  long-awaited  opportunity  to  join  with  others— for  Eng- 
land never  fights  a  European  power  alone— in  ruining  German  com- 
merce and  in  destroying  the  German  fleet.  How  can  England,  of  all 
nations,  talk  of  violating  international  rights?  Her  wars  in  Asia, 
Africa  and  Egypt  have  all  been  waged  for  conquest  and  the  carrying 
out  of  her  imperial  policy.  Think  of  her  war  against  the  Boers,  uni- 
versally reprobated  abroad  and  largely  condemned  at  home!  Look 
at  her  present  high-handedness  in  treating  Egypt  and  the  Suez  canal 
as  if  they  were  a  British  province  instead  of  being  a  Turkish  depend- 
ency, and,  at  all  events,  neutral  territory. 

Think  of  her  taking  from  Holland  steamers  private  letters  addressed 
to  persons  (including  thousands  of  Americans)  in  Germany  and 
Austria!  Consider  her  efforts  to  prevent  Holland  and  Scandinavia 
from  sending  food  to  Germany;  and,  worst  of  all,  think  of  her  calling 
on  the  Japanese  to  do  her  dirty  work  for  her  in  destroying  the  fleet 
and  in  capturing  the  colonies  of  Germany  in  distant  seas!  It  seems 
also  to  be  a  fact,  which  I  was  at  first  reluctant  to  believe,  that  English 
firms  have  furnished  and  English  troops  have  used  the  hideously 
maiming  dum-dum  bullets,  forbidden  by  the  rules  of  civilized  nations. 
If  this  were  not  an  established  fact,  surely  the  German  kaiser  would 
not  have  telegraphed  his  protest  against  it  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States. 

As  for  the  "cruelties"  attributed  to  the  Germans,  you  know  the 
sort  of  men  who  compose  the  German  army.  You  know  that  in  its 
ranks  there  stand  the  representatives  of  the  entire  nation,  not  mere 
hired  soldiers,  as  in  England. 

The  Germans  are  unlike  the  brutal  and  uneducated  Serbs  and 
Cossacks.  They  are  incapable  of  the  barbarities  alleged  against  them 
by  the  lying  press.  Where  no  attacks  have  been  made  upon  them  by 
non-combatants  in  French  and  Belgian  towns  such  places  have  been 
unmolested.    Payment  has  been  given,  or  assured,  for  all  the  food- 


8 


Wisals  have  been  taken,    i  am  noi  wiuiu,..8  ...... 

lly.   But  in  such  cases,  alas,  there  is  no  other  way. 

PREDICTS  VICTORY. 


all  the  culture  which  it  represents.  Behind  it  also  stands  the  staunch 
uncorrupted,  undegenerate  Teutonic  character.  Again  I  beg  you  not 
to  make  the  mistake  of  separating  in  this  fearful  struggle  the  Ger- 
man and  Austrian  peoples  from  their  sovereigns.  If  you  do  that  and 
pity  the  people,  while  condemning  the  emperors,  you  are  absolutely 
wrong  The  Germans  love  and  revere  their  gifted  kaiser,  and  hold 
that  he  was  fully  justified  in  acting  as  he  did.  Make  no  mistake 
ahout  this!  . 

The  spirit  of  the  Austrians  also,  whose  difficulties  are  enormous 
from  the  nature  of  the  battleground  and  fro'm  the  heterogeneity  of 
their  people,  is  worthy  of  the  land  of  Andreas  Hofer.  Here  is  a  passage 
from  a  letter  written  me  by  an  Austrian  officer:  "I,  who  am  a  soldier 
with  all  my  heart  and  soul,  assure  you  that  I  and  all  my  comrades  will 
do  our  duty  with  the  utmost  joy.  The  enemy  may  look  down  into 
our  valley  from  the  mountain  crests,  but  they  shall  never  come  down 
here  so  long  as  the  last  man  of  us  can  move.  Our  good,  old,  dearly- 
loved  emperor  shall  have  to  be  contented  with  his  soldiers.  We  have 
all  sworn  No  retreat !"  The  other  day  when  a  train  of  badly  wounded 
soldiers  drew  in  to  where  the  German  emperor  was  waiting  to  receive 
them  the  gallant  fellows  sang  in  unison  before  him  the  soul-stirring 


"While  yet  one  drop  of  life-blood  flows 

The  sword  shall  never  know  repose; 
While  yet  one  arm  the  shot  can  pour 

The  foe  shall  never  reach  thy  shore ; 
Rest,  Fatherland,  for  sons  of  thine 

Will  steadfast  keep  the  Wacht  am  Rhine." 
And  while  the  wounded  everywhere  are  singing  that  immortal 
song  the  troops  in  bivouac  at  night,  in  solemn  gratitude  for  victory, 
unite  in  chanting  in  impressive  tones  that  echo  over  the  adjoining  hills, 
the  words  of  Luther's  noble  tribute  to  a  faith  still  dear  to  them: 
"Eine  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott!" 

(Signed)  JOHN  L.  STODDARD. 


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